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Commuters have to dig deep

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Taliep Abrahams, one of hundreds of thousands of commuters left out in the cold by the national bus strike, is digging into his savings to cover his extra transport costs.

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Cape Town - Taliep Abrahams, one of hundreds of thousands of commuters left out in the cold by the national bus strike, is digging into his savings to cover his extra transport costs as he tries to hold on to his job as a casual worker at a Kenilworth clothing store.

The savings were to allow him to finish an IT course, but he’s been left with no other choice.

Before the strike, Abrahams spent R410 on a monthly bus ticket. In the past two weeks he’s spent more than R1 000 on transport.

“I’m a casual worker and don’t earn a lot as it is. Since the bus strike started I’ve been forced to use the money I’ve been saving to pay for the extra travel costs. If the strike continues I’ll keep on losing money until I have nothing left,” the despondent man said.

He often works late shifts, and says he finds himself waiting for hours for transport. He was also afraid of thieves who targeted people who were stranded at bus and taxi stops.

“They know people are stranded. A few of the people who work close to me have been robbed. Sometimes I see suspicious people watching the taxi drop-off but they won’t do anything as long as there are a lot of people. But the later it gets the less people there are.”

Abrahams plans to join a lift club, which will cost more than the taxis but will guarantee his safety.

“It’s going to cost me more money but I won’t have to risk waiting at a bus or taxi stop alone. I’ll try to pick up more shifts at work and even though I’ll barely make any money, every bit counts,” he said.

While he understood the bus drivers wanted more money, and that bus companies were trying to keep costs down, Abrahams said commuters were really struggling.

“Everyone is losing out, so it doesn’t make sense for it to keep going. But until it’s over we’ll all just keep losing.”

kowthar.solomons@inl.co.za


Fidentia victims outraged at ‘suffering’

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As J Arthur Brown told how the fraud case against him had ruined his life, people directly affected by his actions were left seething.

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Cape Town - As former Fidentia boss J Arthur Brown told a court this week how the fraud prosecution against him had ruined his life, two beneficiaries of the Living Hands Umbrella Trust have been left seething.

The trust is a complainant in one of the fraud charges of which Brown was convicted. He faces a prescribed minimum jail sentence of 15 years unless he can convince the court that a lesser sentence is more appropriate. As he testified in mitigation in the Western Cape High Court, Notheko Joni, whose husband, Notata, died after falling ill while working on a Welkom mine, questioned how Brown “dare speak of his suffering”.

The widow, a beneficiary of the trust, said Brown’s family was “lucky to have the luxury of running to foreign countries” during tough times. “How can he speak of suffering when we have lost our husbands and our kids, are now struggling because he spent their money? It is the most painful thing to raise kids without food at home, when they want education and you can’t take them to school,” Joni said.

Since her husband’s death, Joni has had no permanent home, and struggles to educate her children. She shuttles between living in her brother’s Mandalay home and at the home of her eldest daughter in Franschhoek, where she sells pork to provide for herself and her three children. “I lost my job some time after my husband passed away and I was unable to take all my children to school. The eldest still has not completed matric. She wants to finish it and move on to university, but I can’t afford to do so. It is only now that the younger ones, 19 and 20 years old, are doing Grade 11 and 12 respectively.”

The furious woman wants Brown to feel the same pain she says he inflicted on thousands of families.

“I don’t even want to see that man. He must stay in jail forever and feel our pain. He has abused our children’s lives. You’ll find that children who were generally good children may have turned to crime because they were hungry. Luckily mine have not resorted to that,” Joni said.

A second widow, former domestic worker Nomaphelo Vabaza, said her husband, Thembisile Szani ,died in a train accident while working at a service station in Grassy Park.

“No one contacted me to say there was money due to me, and I also didn’t know to expect any. It hurts me to know only now, in this manner, that all the while I have been struggling when I shouldn’t have (been).”

Vabaza said Brown deserved more than the prescribed minimum sentence of 15 years in jail.

Pretoria News Weekend

Rasta lawyer to challenge drugs act

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Garreth Prince intends to challenge sections of the Drugs and Trafficking Act to allow Rastafarians to use the "holy herb" as part of their religion.

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Cape Town - In his bid to change the law relating to the use of dagga, Rastafarian lawyer Garreth Prince intends to challenge sections of the Drugs and Trafficking Act, specifically to see the Rastafarian community allowed to use the “holy herb” as part of their religion.

And Friday Prince overcame a small hurdle when he secured a stay of the pending criminal proceedings against him and his family, for the possession of and dealing in dagga, while he launches proceedings in the Western Cape High Court to challenge the act.

Prince has a legal qualification but is not an admitted attorney. Since Prince also has previous dagga-related convictions, his criminal record prevented him from adding his name to the roll of admitted attorneys from the Cape Law Society in 2002.

Prince, his wife, Juanita Adams, and daughter Samantha Adams were arrested in June last year after police raided their Glencairn home and found several dagga plants and 500g of dried dagga.

It is Prince’s case, however, that he and his family use dagga strictly for religious purposes.

While they initially appeared in the Simon’s Town Magistrate’s Court, the case was transferred to the Khayelitsha Regional Court, and is still pending.

Prince turned to the high court yesterday where he argued, before Deputy Judge President Jeanette Traverso and Judge Nape Dolamo, that the pending regional criminal proceedings should be stayed to give him the opportunity to launch a “full frontal challenge” to the constitutional validity of the sections of the act.

He submitted that the lower courts lacked the jurisdiction to hear the constitutional issues. The interests of justice required that the high court determine the constitutional issues.

“I’m saying, in essence, that the law, as it stands, unfairly and unjustly and disproportionately impacts on the ability of the Rastafarian community to live their lives in the manner that the constitution guarantees,” he said.

Judge Traverso said the court could not close the doors to Prince, but added that no court in its right mind would allow criminal proceedings to continue in the lower courts while a constitutional challenge was pending before the high court.

She urged the parties to reach agreement on the issue so that criminal proceedings were stayed, and Prince could launch the constitutional challenge.

Weekend Argus

10 drownings in 3 years at Monwabisi

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The deaths of two boys playing in the tidal pool at the Monwabisi beach resort marked the 10th drowning there in three years.

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Cape Town - The deaths of two boys playing in the tidal pool at the Monwabisi beach resort last week marked the 10th drowning there in three years.

While the beach’s rip tides are a hazard, experts have concluded that the area is a massive problem needing to be addressed.

Mihlali Feni and Luzuko Sidumo, both nine, were among five children from Tafelsig who stole off to swim on Worker’s Day.

But the two drowned in the beach’s tidal pool.

Mayoral committee member for community services and special projects Belinda Walker said

: “The tidal pool tends to attract children who come unsupervised, many of whom can’t swim or are not strong swimmers.”

Walker said there weren’t any lifeguards on duty because summer was over.

The beach is described by the city as catering mainly to the residents of Khayelitsha, but is largely populated by fishermen during winter .

Walker said the tidal pool at the resort had been designed to have sea water flushing through it at high tide.

“Any pool is dangerous without proper adult supervision. We know where there are communities where children go without parents and we need to look at it a lot more carefully,” said Walker.

Koos Schoonees, regional director for WSP Coastal Engineers, said the tidal pool had been a contentious issue in the early 1990s.

The way it had been constructed had resulted in an uneven bottom, and swimmers went from waist-deep to two metres underwater in a single step.

A rip tide running along the beach could easily drag swimmers almost 100m out to sea.

While he said issues with the tidal pool had been resolved, the current was still there and signage along the beach warned swimmers not to go beyond the breakwater.

“Once you go past the tip of the breakwater, it’s no use to try and swim against that current. Even an Olympic swimmer couldn’t swim against that current… But people panic.

“We proposed to put up some rope along the current so at least people could pull themselves back to the breakwater, but as far as I know this was never done.”

While he admitted the beach was one of Cape Town’s most dangerous, it had been significantly improved. People also still drowned in places such as Melkbaai beach in Strand, which is widely regarded as one of the Western Cape’s safest places.

The Western Cape’s regional lifesaving co-ordinator Ed Schroeder said there was a common misconception that a flat section of water, such as the tidal pool, was inherently safe. “There is no such thing as safe water.”

He said Monwabisi’s stretch of coastline was a headache for lifeguards who constantly had to shepherd people closer to the beach during peak season, as overcrowding sent swimmers searching for space beyond the breakwater and among the treacherous currents.

kieran.legg@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

Woman in court over Gumtree murder

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A woman is now the fifth accused in the so-called Gumtree murder case in which Olwyn Cowley was killed trying to sell his car.

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Cape Town - A Mitchells Plain woman has been added as the fifth accused in the so-called Gumtree murder case in which 21-year-old Olwyn Cowley was killed while trying to sell his car.

Tania Majiet appeared alongside Jason Elias, Shawaal Staggie, Rameez Felix and parolee Soegbudien Abvajee during a pre-trial conference in the Western Cape High Court on Friday.

State advocate Jacomiena Swart told the court lawyers had been arranged for the accused, although Staggie’s legal representation still needed to be finalised.

Swart said the newly appointed lawyers only recently received copies of the case docket and needed to consult their clients to formulate their defence.

It is the State’s case the group acted in common purpose when they allegedly killed Cowley nine months ago.

If convicted, the men face a minimum sentence of life in prison unless they can show that substantial and compelling circumstances existed to justify a deviation.

Cowley had advertised his silver BMW 325ti on the classifieds website Gumtree.

Elias, Staggie and Felix contacted Cowley saying Elias was interested in buying the vehicle. They arranged to meet him at the Shell garage at Century City around 5pm on August 30 last year.

During the meeting, Cowley agreed that Elias and Abvajee could take the car for a test run. Elias drove the car. It’s not clear where Abvajee sat in the vehicle, but soon after leaving Century City, Cowley was shot and killed.

Elias and Abvajee returned to Century City, where the other two were waiting, and later decided to dump Cowley’s body along Baden Powell Drive.

After the murder the men allegedly drove to Majiet’s house in Highlands Village, Mitchells Plain. It has been established that Majiet is Elias’s girlfriend and the mother of his child.

At her house, Abvajee allegedly washed the bloodstained car and Elias allegedly handed Cowley’s cellphone to her.

Majiet later got rid of the cellphone. She has been charged with being an accessory to murder after the fact.

The men have been charged with premeditated murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, and the illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.

According to the post-mortem report, Cowley died after sustaining multiple gunshot wounds to his body.

The accused are back in court for another pre-trial hearing in two week’s time and are set to plead to the charges when the trial starts on May 27.

jade.otto@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

W Cape says no to total booze ban

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Transport MEC is opposing the plan to lower the nationwide drink-driving limit to zero.

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Cape Town - A rift is developing between the Western Cape and national ministries of transport over the latter’s new and controversial strategy to fight drinking and driving.

In a presentation to the inter-ministerial committee on substance abuse, the national Ministry of Transport put forward the case for lowering the legal blood-alcohol level to zero.

This would see drivers who have had a single sip of beer face potential arrest and prosecution.

The cabinet established the inter-ministerial committee in 2010 and it is headed by Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini. It will present a draft bill to cabinet which will include a proposed legislative ban on alcohol advertising and transport’s “zero limit” proposal.

“The inter-ministerial committee agreed with and accepted transport’s proposal. The majority of accidents that occur in South Africa are alcohol related, and the inter-ministerial committee feels a zero tolerance would help to curb this scourge,” said Lumka Oliphant, Dlamini’s spokeswoman.

But Western Cape Transport MEC Robin Carlisle is opposed to the measure and has written to the national minister to inform him of his concern.

NOT REALLY ENFORCEABLE

Carlisle argues the current turnaround time for blood tests and the lack of breathalysing at road blocks throughout the country (except by Western Cape and Metro Traffic) means the country does not have a structure in place to manage and enforce such a law.

“Also, virtually all of the countries with the best safety records – Britain, France, Germany, the US and Australia – have some sort of minimum legal alcohol level that can be tested for in drivers,” he said.

He proposed that more effort should instead be put into improving the turnaround time for blood results at state labs and behaviour-changing campaigns.

Carlisle said that enjoying alcohol “responsibly” was a big part of many South Africans’ lives. He did not agree in principal with a “campaign that attempted to forcibly drive alcohol out of our lives” and predicted that any such attempts would inevitably be “disastrous”.

Sitting somewhere between the two points of view is the Automobile Association (AA) of South Africa.

AA spokesman Gary Ronald agreed that the country did not have the infrastructure (in terms of alternative/public transport) to act as an incentive for people not to drive when they were still under the current legal limit of 0.05ml of alcohol in their blood.

He however gave credence to the Brazilian example – where “zero tolerance” legislation had apparently led to a 30 percent decline in crashes.

“If the same can be achieved in South Africa, we stand to save 2 000 lives each year. That is massively significant,” said Roland. -Cape Argus

Probe after motorist killed by cop

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A suspected drunk driver was fatally shot by a Cape Town traffic officer who was driving him to a police station.

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Cape Town - A suspected drunk driver was fatally shot by a traffic officer who was driving him to the Kraaifontein police station and who he apparently attacked on the way there - resulting in the shot being fired.

Kyle Weideman, 22, who, according to his Facebook profile, had studied civil engineering at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) in Bellville, died early on Saturday. He had apparently driven through a red traffic light prompting the officer to follow him and pull him over in the Brackenfell area.

On Sunday, provincial traffic chief Kenny Africa said the officer, a member of the provincial department, had taken Weideman to the Shadow Centre along Vanguard Drive in Athlone where a sample of his blood was taken to see if he had been driving under the influence of alcohol. Africa said the officer had planned to take Weideman to the Kraaifontein police station.

The traffic officer and Weideman had been alone in the vehicle. Africa said, according to information gathered so far, Weideman had started assaulting the officer while he was driving on the N1 highway near Cape Gate Shopping Precinct.

Police spokesman Andre Traut said the officer arrested Weideman around 5.30am at the Okavango off-ramp on the N1 in Brackenfell.

Traut’s information about where the incident happened differed from Africa’s in that Traut said during his arrest, Weideman had attacked the officer.

“The suspect stabbed the traffic officer with a sharp instrument whereafter the suspect was shot and fatally wounded by the officer.”

He said the circumstances surrounding the incident were being probed. A death inquest docket had been registered.

On Weideman’s Facebook page, it said he had graduated in 2010 and worked at Haw and Inglis, a construction company.

Under favourite quotations, it said: “Stick 2 wat is right (sic).”

Condolence messages were posted on a relative’s page. Nico October posted on his page: “Rest In Peace Kyle, my cousin. I am missing you so much! Not even a chance to say goodbye breaks me the most.”

On Saturday, he posted “in total shock” and explained to a Facebook friend it was because of the death of his cousin.

* On Sunday, Africa said 12 roadblocks were held on Friday and another 12 on Saturday. He said 2 087 vehicles had been stopped, 883 drivers were tested for alcohol and of these 37 drunk drivers were arrested.

Africa said when it came to speeding, a 40-year-old woman from Cape Town driving a BMW 5 Series was arrested yesterday between Aberdeen and Beaufort West for driving at 188km/h in a 120km zone.

She was detained in the Beaufort West police station and was expected to appear in a court there on Monday.

caryn.dolley@inl.co.za

Cape Times

Two killed in CTown drive-by shooting

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Two men were killed and three wounded in a drive-by shooting in Kraaifontein, Cape Town, Western Cape police said.

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Cape Town - Two men were killed and three wounded in a drive-by shooting in Kraaifontein, Cape Town, Western Cape police said on Monday.

The victims were Martin Hubert, 18, and Charles Snyman, 30, spokesman Captain Frederick van Wyk said.

Three other men, aged 15, 19, and 30, were wounded during Saturday's shooting.

Police were investigating. No arrests had been made.

Sapa


MyCiti will be back for Bieber

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The MyCiTi bus service will be temporarily reinstated from Table View for the Bon Jovi and Justin Bieber concerts.

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Cape Town - The MyCiTi bus service will be temporarily reinstated from Table View for the Bon Jovi and Justin Bieber concerts at Cape Town Stadium tomorrow and Wednesday night.

Bus drivers have been striking for more than two weeks, causing MyCiTi and Golden Arrow to suspend their services.

City spokeswoman Kylie Hatton said today that a Table View MyCiTi service will run from 2pm tomorrow until midnight on Wednesday. She described the service as a special “event bus” which would not be “normal public transport”, thus not undermining the bus drivers’ strike. Other MyCiTi services would not be reinstated, but city-run shuttle services from Hout Bay and UCT would operate as usual for stadium events, said Hatton.

Hatton said extra security measures would be in place to protect passengers, staff, and vehicles from potential attacks by strikers.

She said Myconnect card holders who wanted to use the MyCiTi service needed to use their cards to book in advance.

Regular MyCiTi bus drivers, employed by vehicle operating company Kidrogen, would be driving the buses to the stadium.

Isaac Kutama, deputy chairman for the bus sector in the South African Transport And Allied Workers Union (Satawu), said today that the union had not received notice on the “event service” and could not comment.

Mayoral Committee Member for Tourism, Events and Marketing Grant Pascoe asked concert goers to arrive early and to co-operate with traffic officials before and after the two concerts.

“We’re asking concert goers to arrive early if they are using their own transport. Otherwise, we would suggest that people use the trains and the fan walk to get to the stadium,” Pascoe said.

Meanwhile, unions have confirmed that they have a proposal ready to take to the bargaining council today.

Satawu spokesman Vincent Masoga said he could not announce the details of the proposal before unions met at noon today.

The Transport and Omnibus Workers Union (Towu), will be at that meeting. Unions and employers have been deadlocked in wage negotiations since the beginning of the year.

A strike by bus drivers and support staff began a little over two weeks ago.

Unions are demanding a 13 percent raise and employers have so far offered 7.5 percent and 8 percent hikes for respective income brackets.

Golden Arrow spokeswoman Bronwen Dyke said that clip cardholders would have the valid dates on their cards extended for use on the buses once services were resumed.

daneel.knoetze@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

FSB’s Fidentia inspection ‘unauthorised’

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The Financial Services Board did not have the authority to inspect Fidentia's offices in 2006, the Western Cape High Court heard.

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 Cape Town - The Financial Services Board (FSB) did not have the authority to inspect Fidentia's offices in 2006, the Western Cape High Court heard on Monday.

Braganza Pretorius, for former Fidentia boss J Arthur Brown, said the FSB had not taken into account the correct inspection legislation, the definition of a financial services provider, and when Fidentia was licensed.

He put it to the FSB's chief financial officer Dawood Seedat that the inspection of Fidentia was therefore not authorised in terms of the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act.

He said any information obtained during an unauthorised inspection would have been illegal.

Seedat replied that the inspection was authorised in terms of the Inspection of Financial Institutions Act, which made provision for associated institutions.

Judge Anton Veldhuizen said the FSB would have been compelled to do something about anything criminal it might have found during an unauthorised inspection.

The court earlier heard that the FSB started investigating Fidentia after receiving complaints of mismanagement of clients' funds from a former Fidentia employee.

The investigation spanned from June 2006 to the end of January 2007, and included an inspection and interview with Brown.

Seedat was testifying in aggravation of sentence in Brown's trial, after his conviction on two counts of fraud.

Seedat said one of the key findings was a R406 million discrepancy in Fidentia's funds.

He said Fidentia's auditors indicated in a report they could not conduct an audit for 2004/05 because of various outstanding documents and obstacles.

One of their findings indicated that the liability to clients exceeded their investments.

Pretorius asked Seedat why the FSB had not noticed this key finding in 2004.

Seedat replied he was the wrong person to ask such a question.

Judge Anton Veldhuizen criticised the State for calling a witness whose testimony was unrelated to Brown's admissions.

“He hasn't been convicted of having stolen any money from Fidentia Asset Management, Fidentia or anywhere else... He hasn't appropriated any client's money. I don't understand this,” the judge said.

“This is not correct. I think the State has mismanaged this. You accepted the plea of the accused on the basis of what he did; he saw potential prejudice.”

Veldhuizen told Brown's lawyer he would take into consideration only the parts of Seedat's evidence which were directly related to the convictions.

“I cannot sentence the accused for something more serious than what he has been convicted of,” he said.

Seedat's cross-examination resumes on Tuesday. - Sapa

Cape Town releases vacant land

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Cape Town - The City of Cape Town is placing a number of its properties onto the market to stimulate economic development, deputy mayor Ian Neilson said on Monday.

“The release of this land is part of this administration's commitment to building an opportunity city in which the economy grows and jobs are created, particularly in areas that were previously deprived of development,” he said in a statement.

Six vacant plots with industrial zoning were released in Atlantis after parties looking to establish or expand their businesses expressed interest.

Three vacant plots with business development zoning were released in Strandfontein, Mitchells Plain, and Macassar.

Neilson said eight vacant plots for single residential purposes were released in Constantia, Kensington, Lansdowne, Mitchells Plain, Surrey Estate, and Heathfield.

“These areas are specifically targeted in accordance with the City's integrated development plan objective to utilise, where available, under-utilised municipal property to leverage growth and sustainable development in poorer communities.”

The official tender documents could be obtained from the civic centre. - Sapa

Capitec boss shocked by resignation

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One of the founders of Capitec was “shocked” by the resignation of a senior manager to join a competitor, the Bellville Commercial Crime Court heard.

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Cape Town - One of the founders of consumer bank Capitec was “shocked” by the resignation of a senior manager to join competitor, African Bank, the Bellville Commercial Crime Court in Cape Town heard on Monday.

Former Capitec manager, Faick Davids, pleaded not guilty before magistrate Sabrina Sonnenberg to charges of fraud and violations of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act (ECTA).

On both charges, prosecutor Derek Vogel alleges that Davids fraudulently obtained crucial Capitec electronic information to take with him to African Bank, in contravention of the ECTA.

Chartered accountant Andre Olivier told the court both he and Davids had previously held senior posts with the former Boland Bank, which was taken over first by the Board of Executives and then by Nedbank, during the bank crisis of a decade ago.

Olivier said he joined Capitec, which at the time was a small business focused on micro loans for the purchase of cars and, as an accountant, and had built it up to what it was today.

In the process, he specially recruited Davids in 2001 for his expertise and energy levels, for liaising with branches and the training of staff.

In June 2001, he personally appointed Davids as project manager, and later promoted him to the newly created post of head of distribution.

“When I joined Capitec, it focused on savings and loans, but had no banking systems or procedures,” said Olivier.

“Davids reported to me directly, and was in charge of implementing new procedures at the branches.

“Davids was a key individual with a bright future with Capitec, and was the first person on his level to be promoted to management committee level, a committee that ran the bank from day to day.”

In October 2009, Davids informed Olivier that he had been offered a post at African Bank.

Olivier added: “I was shocked, because Davids was a key person, and not someone whom we wanted to lose, especially to a competitor.

“I spent long hours on a Friday trying to persuade him to stay. I needed to know what he needed to stay with Capitec. I kept telling him he was making a grave mistake.

“He said he needed the weekend to think about our discussion, but that Monday he told me he had decided to go, and that he did not want to talk about it anymore.”

Olivier said Capitec's policy was to insist that staff joining a competitor leave the premises forthwith, without first working a month's notice.

He informed Davids that he had to vacate his office by the end of the day, and at 6pm Davids handed in his laptop, which was Capitec property.

Olivier said Davids had signed a contract and other documentation on joining Capitec, which made it clear that he was not allowed to convey any information pertaining to Capitec to anyone outside the company.

Olivier said he was given permission by the company's IT department to access Davids' e-mail inbox.

The prosecutor was about to question him about the contents of the inbox, when defence counsel Yvette Isaacs objected, on the grounds that Davids himself had not given permission for Olivier to access his e-mails.

What Olivier had done was illegal, and a violation of Davids's constitutional rights, she said.

The case continues. - Sapa

Zille intern, girlfriend gunned down

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A young couple with a bright future - he was an intern in Helen Zille's office and she was a model - have been shot dead.

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Cape Town - An 18-year-old intern in Premier Helen Zille’s office and his girlfriend were shot dead in Delft on Sunday evening.

Jarryd Manuel and his girlfriend, Megan Hendricks, 19, were shot outside Manuel’s mother’s home in Vuurlelie Street shortly after 8pm.

 

 

Zille sent her “deepest condolences” to Manuel’s family.

“This is a tragic and senseless death that highlights just how serious the crisis of gang violence is. Jarryd… could have undoubtedly built a successful career for himself using the opportunity offered by his internship.

“It is a significant loss for his family and for our province in terms of the future contribution he could have made in years to come,” Zille said.

On Monday, about 80 concerned parents from Delft marched from the Manuel home to the Hendricks’s residence, which was the route the couple would have walked.

They carried placards and called for an “end to the violence”.

In an emotional interview with the Cape Argus, Hazeline Manuel, Jarryd’s mother, spoke of the terror she felt when she heard the shots.

She had seen her son leave moments before and immediately suspected the worst. Running outside, she found her son and Hendricks lying on the pavement. They were still alive and moving but were unable to speak due to the severity of the injuries.

Manuel said her son had been failed by the police, who had not curbed gangsterism in the neighbourhood.

 

“There are always anti-gang operations going on. The police say they are doing a lot, but nothing ever changes. Now Jarryd is dead, unnecessarily,” said Manuel.

While the family waited for an ambulance, Shane Daniels, Jarryd’s 26-year-old brother, sat on the pavement next to the dying couple.

Jarryd’s aunts and uncles gathered at Manuel’s home to support her yesterday. Manuel broke down as she described the severe head wound she saw when identifying her son’s body.

Her family painted a picture of an enthusiastic, outgoing and intelligent young man with a bright future ahead of him. Jarryd matriculated from Walmer High School last year. This year he was a PAY Project intern placed in the Centre for e-Innovation at the Department of the Premier.

“He came home one afternoon, overwhelmed with joy because the premier had spoken to him and his fellow interns. He was inspired by her,” Manuel said.

Jarryd considered his stint as an intern to be a gap year and wanted to study sound engineering to pursue a career as a disc jockey.

“Music was his passion and his joy. Now we won’t hear the music again,” said Jessica August, Jarryd’s aunt.

A long-time school friend of Hendricks, who asked not to be named, described her as “cheery” and “beautiful”, adding that she had regularly taken part in beauty pageants and had worked as a model.

Reggie Maart, the community policing forum chairman in Delft, told the Cape Argus of a recent “scourge” of shootings in the area.

He said that at least five people had been killed and a further two injured since Monday last week.

“This area of Delft is wedged right between strongholds of a number of gangs. The shootings are often related to battles for drug dealing and control of turf.

“Very often, however, innocent people are caught up in the shootings simply by being in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Maart said.

Police spokesman Captain FC Van Wyk said earlier that a 19-year-old man had been taken in for questioning in connection with the couple’s shooting.

 

Cape Argus

‘Plot to kill Fransman won’t be tolerated'

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Claims of a plot to kill WCape ANC leader Marius Fransman has sparked fear and concern among the party’s national leaders.

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Cape Town - Claims of a plot to kill Western Cape ANC chairman Marius Fransman have sparked fear and concern among the party’s national leaders.

“We are very worried,” said ANC national spokesman Keith Khoza on Monday. “Comrade Fransman must report this matter to the police. They are best placed to investigate allegations of this nature.”

The ANC’s national office would support the provincial leadership “where necessary”.

Fransman, who escaped injury when he was attacked by an angry mob following a meeting in Oudtshoorn last week, was back in the Klein Karoo town on Monday to meet councillors and the party’s regional leadership. He confirmed reports that he had received an affidavit from a party member in Oudtshoorn, who claimed a “sub-regional ANC leader” was inciting violence and had ordered a hit on him.

“We will go to the police today (Monday) and open a criminal case for these allegations to be investigated fully,” Fransman said on Monday.

“In the meeting with the regional leaders today, I’ve also put my foot down and have told them that we won’t tolerate hooliganism.”

Asked who was behind the alleged plot and whether he feared for his life, Fransman said: “I don’t want to comment on that, the police will investigate. I’m leaving this matter in their hands now.”

He said the ANC’s prosecution unit would investigate last Tuesday’s attack on him and other senior members at a municipal building in Oudtshoorn.

Fransman who is also the Deputy Minister of International Relations, was rescued from the mob by his bodyguard, following a meeting to replace the town’s mayor, Gordon April.

April, who faces charges of theft, intimidation and illegal use of a municipal vehicle, was told he was to be demoted pending the outcome of the court case and that a new mayor would be appointed.

As Fransman and ANC regional leaders were leaving the building they were approached by a crowd, and a tussle broke out.

April and co-accused Raymond Wagenaar, head of the Oudtshoorn municipality’s stormwater department, made their first court appearance on December 23.

The charges of theft and use of a municipal vehicle were laid by the chairman of the regional branch of AfriForum, George Kersop.

The intimidation charge was laid by co-workers.

April is accused of stealing sand and stone allegedly delivered to his home in Dysselsdorp by municipal workers in a work vehicle.

Wagenaar allegedly gave the instruction for the delivery. Municipal workers who witnessed the incident claim they were later intimidated by the pair.

On Monday, Fransman said April accepted the ANC’s decision to nominate a new mayor.

“The next council meeting will be at the end of the month, where councillors have been given instructions who to vote for as the new mayor.”

ANC provincial secretary Songezo Mjongile said the ANC was investigating the attack and the alleged murder plot “as a matter of urgency”.

“We want to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible... This is serious and will not be tolerated.”

DA provincial leader Ivan Meyer said reports of the alleged plot were “very unfortunate”.

“I wouldn’t like to see blood flowing in this province like it did in KwaZulu Natal, where ANC leaders were targeted in hits as a result of factionalism. I appeal to Mr Fransman to report this matter to the police.”

clayton.barnes@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

No MyCiTi bus service for Beliebers

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Justin Bieber concert-goers will need to make alternate transport arrangements as MyCiTi buses will not run to Cape Town Stadium.

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Cape Town - Justin Bieber may have a smooth travel itinerary for Cape Town when he lands in the city on Tuesday.

But those hoping to make use of the MyCiTi bus service to and from the Cape Town Stadium for his concert on Wednesday night will have to make use of alternate transport.

The City of Cape Town’s Kylie Hatton said they have had to alter their transportation plan to the stadium as a result of the bus strike.

“Unfortunately, the transport plan has had to be amended to take into consideration the ongoing national strike, which means that no MyCiTi service will be operating for the event.”

The city had planned to have a temporary bus service to the stadium but changed plans as vehicle operating companies expressed an unwillingness to operate under the “current conditions”.

On Monday morning the city told the Cape Argus that the Table View MyCiTi buses would be available for concertgoers and the newspaper published a front page article saying as much.

But the operating companies later informed the city about its unwillingness to have buses in operation.

 

* Details of the amended transport plan are available on the city’s website www.capetown.gov.za or on the transport information centre at 0800 656 463.

Cape Argus


Bail money returned to Karabus

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Professor Cyril Karabus’s bail money has been returned to him, but he is still waiting for his passport.

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Cape Town - Paediatric oncologist Cyril Karabus’s bail money has been returned to him, but he is still waiting for his passport to be given back to him so he can leave the United Arab Emirates.

On Monday Karabus’s local lawyer, Michael Bagraim, said Karabus had waited at the Abu Dhabi prison where he had been held, hoping his passport would be returned, which did not happen.

Bagraim said Karabus’s R250 000 bail money had been returned, which “show’s there’s movement”.

Karabus, 78, was held in Abu Dhabi on August 18 on manslaughter charges imposed in absentia after a three-year-old Yemeni girl died in 2002.

Cape Times

Brown’s sentencing delayed

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Convicted fraudster J Arthur Brown has to wait until next week for the resumption of his sentencing procedures.

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Cape Town - Sentencing procedures of convicted fraudster and former Fidentia boss J Arthur Brown were postponed by the Western Cape High Court on Tuesday.

Judge Anton Veldhuizen ordered Brown, who is out on R1-million bail, to return to court on Monday for closing sentencing arguments.

Brown was recently convicted on two counts of fraud after handing in admissions about misrepresentations he made regarding investments he handled for two clients.

His lawyer, Braganza Pretorius, wrapped up his cross-examination of the State's last witness, Financial Services Board (FSB) chief financial officer Dawood Seedat, on Tuesday morning.

Seedat had testified on Monday about the FSB's investigation into Fidentia in 2006.

Pretorius put it to Seedat that the testimony he had given was not suited to sentencing arguments.

“It should have been before judgment. Most of it is hearsay evidence. I'm not going to cross-examine you any further and I object to everything being said,” the lawyer said.

Seedat was allowed to leave the stand.

On Monday, Seedat testified there was a R406-million discrepancy in Fidentia's funds, and its liabilities to clients exceeded their investments in 2004.

At the time, Veldhuizen strongly condemned the State for calling a witness whose testimony was unrelated to Brown's admissions.

“He hasn't been convicted of having stolen any money from Fidentia Asset Management, Fidentia or anywhere else... He hasn't appropriated any client's money. I don't understand this,” the judge said.

“This is not correct. I think the State has mismanaged this. You accepted the plea of the accused on the basis of what he did; he saw potential prejudice.”

Veldhuizen told Brown's lawyer he would take into consideration only the parts of Seedat's evidence which were directly related to the convictions.

“I cannot sentence the accused for something more serious than what he has been convicted of,” he said. - Sapa

Recruits beaten with broomsticks - report

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Several recruits at the Army Infantry School in Oudtshoorn reportedly needed medical help after a training session.

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Oudtshoorn, Western Cape - A board of inquiry has been established to investigate a punitive training session at the Army Infantry School in Oudtshoorn, the SANDF said on Tuesday.

“Action will be taken against anyone who might have acted out of the rule which governs the type of punishment befitting the violation, because the punishment should be equal to the violation committed,” said SANDF spokesperson Brigadier-General Xolani Mabanga.

Several army recruits reportedly needed medical treatment after the training session.

According to Beeld, the training session, which took place on Thursday night and Friday morning, was apparently halted at the request of medical officers at the base because they feared the recruits would not survive.

All the recruits' phones were confiscated to ensure no photographs or video footage was distributed, an angry mother told the newspaper.

“The children live in a state of extreme anxiety,” she said.

The punitive session was arranged after the recruits left the base on Thursday to visit a pub.

Mabanga confirmed this, but could not confirm the date.

“We are aware of five people that sneaked out of the camp and went to drink in a local pub. Then they were brought back. They were dressed in their military training gear and yes, they were punished in a way that fitted the type of violation.”

He said the inquiry would determine whether anyone had acted unfairly. He said he had not received the inquiry's results.

South African National Defence Union spokesperson Pikkie Greeff said the recruits were given physical training (PT) as punishment, which he said was illegal.

Mabanga disputed this and said Greeff was not a member of the SANDF.

“PT can be used as a corrective measure. However, when it is done excessively, whether in training or as punishment, it is not allowed.”

Greeff said he was told there were 11 recruits involved in the session and what happened to them went far beyond PT.

“They were forced to strip naked in the middle of the night and then they were forced to carry around poles, and if somebody dropped these poles they were beaten with broomsticks,” he said.

“The one (man) was so severely beaten he is in ICU in the MediClinic in Oudtshoorn.”

He said the other 10 recruits were still in the base's sick bay on Saturday.

Greeff said his shopstewards were refused entry to the sick bay and the union would contact the families of the recruits and assist them in approaching the South African Human Rights Commission.

He said this was not the first questionable incident at the camp.

In August, a woman recruit committed suicide at the base. At the time Sandu claimed the suicide note made reference to humiliation by base management.

On Tuesday, Greeff said: “It can't go on like this... It’s not a military camp anymore, it's a prison camp.”

When asked about the hospitalisation of recruits after the training session, Mbanga said he had not heard of anything.

“Not to my knowledge,” he said.

Johanna Mokoena, a manager at the Klein Karoo MediClinic in Oudtshoorn, did not have any record of a member of the army in the facility. - Sapa

SA, Nigeria aim to boost ties

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The leaders of Africa's two largest economies are meeting in an effort to improve sometimes patchy ties.

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Cape Town - The leaders of Africa's two largest economies, South Africa and Nigeria, were meeting on Tuesday in an effort to improve sometimes patchy ties.

South African President Jacob Zuma and his Nigerian counterpart Goodluck Jonathan are expected to sign several pacts in a display of warming relations between the two African powerhouses on the heels of a trip in April by Zuma to Lagos.

Zuma welcomed Jonathan - on the first state visit to South Africa by any Nigerian leader since 2009 - with red carpet pomp and ceremony including a 21-gun salute, navy band and guard of honour.

Nigerian and South African flags lined the road to parliament in Cape Town and were also hanging outside the National Assembly where Jonathan is due to make an address at 12.00 GMT.

“I think symbolically it's very important to indicate a growing closeness between the leadership of the two countries,” said Dianna Games, honorary chief executive of the South Africa-Nigeria Chamber of Commerce.

“There is a kind of a rivalry that has dogged the relationship over some time, and as a result the two countries are not speaking with a united voice on issues affecting Africa, let alone issues in the relationship itself.”

While South Africa is still the continent's biggest economy, Nigerian business activity is set to grow more than twice as fast, by 7.2 percent, this year, according to International Monetary Fund estimates.

Total two-way trade has risen to $4.1 billion, with a surplus in oil-rich Nigeria's favour, according to South Africa's department of trade.

Nigeria is the continent's most populous country and its biggest oil producer.

The two states, which both want seats in an expanded UN Security Council, were at loggerheads last year over who would become head of the African Union's commission.

“It created a very frosty relationship between the two countries,” said Alfredo Tjiurimo Hengari, analyst at the South African Institute of International Affairs.

“My view is also that South Africa has also been trying to overstretch its role on the continent by trying to play a very important role” in countries in Nigeria's backyard such as Ivory Coast and Mali.

An embarrassing tit-for-tat row also broke out over yellow fever vaccinations that saw passengers turned away at airports in both countries in March last year.

The fact that there had not yet been an official state visit between the two countries was “abnormal for two continental powerhouses”, said Hengari.

“Ordinarily in his first year in office, Jonathan Goodluck should have been to South Africa and President Zuma should have been to Nigeria. That is a symbol of a very very strong bilateral relationship.”

South Africa's “charm offensive” pointed the way to a more cordial relationship where cooperation could be deepened and contentious issues discussed, he said.

While courting the emerging BRIC markets - Brazil, Russia, India and China - South Africa has not shown the “same political eagerness on the continent” with Nigeria an obvious target, said Games.

“If this is the start of a closer relationship, then I think that would be a very good thing all around for both countries and the continent as a whole because they are the two big powers in Africa,” she said.

The two leaders will attend a meeting of a bilateral business forum, while Jonathan will also hold separate talks with the South African-based MTN telecommunications company, as well as representatives of car manufacturers Toyota and Nissan in South Africa. - AFP

Hunt for blackmailer, murder suspect widens

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British police have appealed for information about the whereabouts of a man with local ties wanted for murder in the UK.

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Cape Town - British police have again appealed for information about the whereabouts of a man with ties to the city - and dubbed “New Zealand’s greatest prison escaper” - wanted in connection with a murder in the UK.

In a statement, police in Sussex announced the international hunt for Ricardo Pisano, who also goes by the names Ricky, Ree and Brandon Victor Pillay, was continuing and they released new photographs of him. Pisano, about 35 years old, is wanted in connection with the killing of Michael Polding, 63, who was found dead by police in his Brighton flat on July 16 last year.

The statement said Pisano was believed to be the last person to have seen Polding alive. It said a coroner had found a “combination of injuries” caused his death.

“(Pisano) is known to have links to South Africa and New Zealand and detectives believe he could now be anywhere in the world,” it said. A £5 000 (R70 000) reward was being offered for information which would lead to his arrest.

According to an article in the New Zealand Herald, Pisano is from Cape Town.

Last year, the Sussex police launched a website dedicated to trying to track down Pisano. It said the investigation team planned to travel to South Africa this year to gather more information about him.

The website described Pisano as “a man of many guises” who could change his name, appearance and accent.

“He… was convicted of extortion in New Zealand in 2001… (and) jailed for 15 months…

However, in August 2001, partway through his sentence, he escaped. He managed to leave the country and eventually flee to the UK,” it said.

 

On the Facebook page “Wanted: Ricardo Pisano a.k.a Brandon Victor Pillay”, a user who described himself as a male escort said Pisano “always dressed in similar garb to the circulated images”. Most noteworthy, he said, was his “dishevelled” appearance.

 

caryn.dolley@inl.co.za

Cape Times

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